Sentient’s “Audio Alchemy” Wins Gold at ESOMAR Congress

We are thrilled to announce Sentient Decision Science as the Gold winner of ESOMAR’s Research Effectiveness Awards 2024.

This award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to deliver innovative, impactful, and effective research solutions. The award ceremony was the culmination of a successful 4-day event in Athens, Greece. 

As one of three finalists for the Research Effectiveness Awards, Sentient Decision Science was invited to present our innovative audio advertising study to attendees of ESOMAR Congress. This featured event took place on Tuesday, September, 10th following a day of insightful presentations from industry professionals. Representatives of each nominated research project took the stage, including Sentient’s Dr. Aaron Reid and Dr. Cyrus McCandless.

Dr. Reid and Dr. McCandless held the closing spot, wrapping up the Insights Impact segment. The two began the presentation by transporting the audience back to their daily lives, inviting them to envision themselves listening to their favorite podcast on a walk, cooking dinner while enjoying music, or catching up on the news before work. These scenarios helped set the stage for the growing importance of audio.

What do all of these situations have in common? They’re divided attention moments. That is also the most common way that we consume audio content in our lives. When you were thinking about those memories, did any really engaging ads pop into your soundtrack in your mind? Did any brand become suddenly more mentally available as you were thinking about yourself in the morning? Did you find yourself with an impulse to go out and find and buy a product—maybe a breakfast sandwich on the way to work? That’s the challenge that we face with audio advertising. – Dr. Reid

After contextualizing today’s streaming landscape, Dr. Reid discussed the questions posed by Amazon Ads and the consequent research challenge Sentient faced. Dr. McCandless then transitioned into the study’s methodology.

Once this background information was provided, the speakers shared results from the study, offering the audience actionable recommendations for audio advertisments.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the importance of implicit testing for audio
• Uncover the role of sound in branding
• Learn the creative variables driving audio ad perfomance
• Inform and evaluate your audio strategy

The presentation ended with a discussion of the broader impact of this research on creatives, brands, and insights professionals. This was well received by the audience and after brief deliberation from the panel, Audio Alchemy was selected as the Gold winner. Sentient is honored to receive this recognition from ESOMAR and we thank the Programme Committee for the opportunity to share our project.

Interested in learning more about our award-winning audio advertising research? Download Audio Alchemy: The Art & Science of Creating Engaging and Impactful Ads to explore background, methodology, and project results.